


The first Mr. Wheatley.

by MyNameisChristmas



Category: Portal (Video Game)
Genre: Gen, Original Character Death(s)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-02
Updated: 2016-02-18
Packaged: 2018-05-11 05:53:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 1,179
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5616151
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MyNameisChristmas/pseuds/MyNameisChristmas
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Finn Wheatley is a software engineer tasked with a few final response tests on our favorite Intelligence Dampening Sphere before they put him to use in an attempt to end GLaDOS’ reign of terror.<br/>This is a really quick story from the core’s point of view (in response to a headcanon that Wheatley took the name of someone who was working on him, and who could have provided his very realistically human voice before they were killed by GLaDOS), as the last touches were being put on this plan to save the facility.<br/>I’ve written it as wavering in and out of being clear that it’s his perspective, as Wheatley’s sense of self is new and he isn’t quite sure just what’s going on until it’s much too late.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Hello!

_ “Let there be light.” _

The lights came on and a man was sat off to the side of the small square room, tapping a pen on a desk. It was a familiar voice. My voice. But, it wasn’t mine yet.

He was obviously a lab hand, or something, taken from the way he was dressed; also young and very thin, with scruffy black hair, and a pair of matching glasses sitting on his nose. Matching as to say they were just as black and just as unkempt.

“I know it’s early but it’s got to-hm?”

He glanced over and noticed his persistent efforts weren’t for naught after all.

“Hello friend, You turned on after all, eh?” He sighed, turning his rolling office chair from the desk to the counter by shifting his weight on the armrest, “I’m Wheatley; Finneas, Elliott, Wheatley. Can you hear me alright, mate?”

He smiled at the short nod he received in response.

“Thank god, here’s hoping you’re not too undercooked then.”

He seems a bit tense, but confident, like he doesn’t have time to muck about with what’s wrong.

Boy was that ever a perfect assumption.

Finn got to his feet and looked over the sphere on the table once or twice, then pushed his glasses back on as they were slipping, and his hair out of his eyes as well.

“Maybe that’s what we really want after all. ..Cameras online?”

Another little nod enticed another smile, but just as the last it was short-lived.

He took a deep breath in and out and turned back to his computer, slipping back into the chair and typing away, fiddling with who-knew-what-else on the monitor before he glanced back to the counter one more time.

“You might just be our hero little sphere, but for now it’s time you go to sleep so I can work.”

A hero..

Then things were dark again.


	2. Standard Speech Recognition Response Test

Lights on, same room, couple things’ve moved. One of ‘em’s the hands on the clock over the door, but not by too much. The door was open.

Finn was at the same computer, he hadn’t noticed yet the way he’s hunched over in his seat is making his glasses slide off again.

A lot else feels different. Like I know more than I did last time I looked out into this room.

He pushed off the desk and grabbed the edge of the counter to stop his chair rolling into it.

“A’right now try saying something to me. Simple word-..say, ‘Apple’.”

“Apple?”

“That’s it, That’s it. Funny having you sound just like me-” Finn muttered a bit more to himself indecipherably as he rubbed his hands together, had a gander at the computer screen, and then a loud voice scared him silly when he’d meant to turn back.

_ “WHEATLEY! STATUS UPDATE.” _

The man in the doorway was stern and obnoxious. That was all that need be said about him.

Mr. Wheatley straightened up quickly with a little involuntary noise to indicate his surprise and shot up from his chair, bumping the largest thing on the counter; one, brand new and  _ very important _ personality core, off and nearly onto the floor, if he hadn’t scrambled quickly enough to correct his mistake.

“E-everything is running smoothly and i’ll be done before you know it sir.”

The words fell out of his mouth all at once and were hard to follow for it, but the man in the doorway disappeared again and Finn gave himself another minute to breathe.

“You’re... pretty much ready, right? This wasn’t all my work after all, it’s just that...the others, they...have....more pressing matters to attend to..”

“More pressing?”

“Never you mind, It’ll turn out, I just know it. Sleep mode.”

Everything was alright.

And we fade to black.


	3. A Few Simple Questions

“ _Wake up_ , IDS7, c’mon then!”

Finn was more irritable than he had been before, must’ve been yelled at again like last time, “We don’t have _time_.”

The room was near identical to itself from what must have been moments before, unmoved cabinets and boxes in the corner opposite the desk, a few scrambled but stationary papers.

“Time for what?”

“For taking seven bloody tries to disengage sleep mode, pay attention to my cues! We’re almost done!”

Strange it was for certain to hear two of the same voice go back and forth like that.

Finn threaded his fingers through his hair and slumped back against his chair with a heavy breath out as he took some notes down, “Power settings may be faulty.”

Something obviously had him downtrodden.

“I’ve got a few questions to ask you. You understand?”

“Ye-Of course--right, yes.”

Finn mumbled to himself again, tapping the pen on his head, “Audio processors _and_ power settings may be faulty...keeps interrupting itself, and that could have a deeper root..”

“Y’know I _can_ understand what you’re saying.”

He didn’t appreciate that comment. But it wasn’t going to be taken back in any capacity.

“Right now the questions, do you have any idea where you are?”

“No? Am I s’posed to when you haven’t told me?”

In retrospect it did say Aperture Science on his coat. A bit obvious.

The other questions were hard, though, nonsensical even, I mean why would I need to know that? Why would I _want_ to know that? What exactly am I supposed to be doing?

In the end he said there was one more thing he wanted to say, it was that GLaDOS was in sleep mode right now, and she wouldn’t stay that way.

And, that was bad, because this ‘GLaDOS’ was full of _bad_ ideas. And he said I was meant to give her some better ones.


	4. Goodbye.

The room was darker now itself, not blindingly white when it came into view.

Something was wrong; so,  _ so _ wrong, as wrong as it could be.

Young Mr. Wheatley was sitting in his chair, coughing.

“That’s all then, mate.” He said, slumped against his desk like he couldn’t help it, I suppose he hadn’t meant to turn me back on, but then maybe he wanted to tell me something.

“It was all we could do; try.” He wheezed to himself, shut up in this room again, alone. 

“And we did;  _ man alive _ did we try.”

He coughed once more and glanced over, looking dizzy.

“It’s not really your fault, little guy. Or mine, but what’s done is done.” He added with a shrug.

There was a prolonged silence I meant to break but when he choked again I stopped myself.

Evidently I hadn’t done the _one thing_ I was designed for.

“She does what she wants, we should have known that a long time ago.”

His voice was getting softer and he pushed off his desk like before to get closer to the counter and get a good look at the last thing he’d worked on.

“Best of luck to you, I guess. Goodbye.”

He probably meant to shut me off but he looked lost after that; gone.

Like that was it.

Funny like that, humans. So simple, and fragile.


	5. . . .

My name, is Wheatley.


End file.
